Part 1 - Power Sharing and Democracy

GFA Scorecard Part 1 - Power Sharing and Democracy

While the Northern Ireland Assembly, executive and cross-border bodies have been established, an implicit unionist veto and British lack of political vision constantly destroys the new institutions. The British government’s promises of a nationalist share of governmental power safe from the whim of the British government and Unionism have been broken four times. 

The threat of Unionist walkout is always a cloud over the peace process. Since the establishment of the power sharing institutions, the UUP alone has given nine separate ultimatums for rollbacks to the GFA or threats to destroy it. The DUP refuses to share power outright. Often they simply use and abuse the rules to destroy or confound these institutions, as the UUP did by illegally blocking SF from participating in the work of the Cross Boarder bodies.

In the six and one-half years since the signing of the GFA, the power-sharing Assembly has been in operation for only 20 months.

Today, the British government is still in direct rule of the Six Counties and has been so since they illegally and undemocratically suspended the Assembly in December of 2002 and canceled scheduled Assembly elections twice in 2003. When the elections finally were allowed because of international pressure, the GFA was in such a downward spiral that the Assembly has still not been re-established.

The British government’s failure to implement the democratic aspect of the GFA revolves upon its constant interference with the evolution of Irish democracy, which it has done for centuries. 

The Securocrats

Unionism/Loyalism is supported by a security industry in the north of Ireland and in the UK who thrive on the need to be militarily engaged and on alert to ensure their jobs and interests. This is the reason why it suits the securocrat industry, including it’s military police force, British army intelligence and command structure, to make the most of the IRA s potential or imagined threat to the peace process, a process they themselves do not support. 

This persists despite the fact the IRA have upheld a unbroken, 8 year ceasefire, are the only armed force that has cooperated with General deChastelain's International Independent Committee on Decommissioning (IICD), and have made concession after concession to keep it alive.

These securocrats within the establishment effectively gum up the works with timed arrests, unsupported leaks, and bizarre propaganda leading to outlandish smears and allegations in the media. When these false arrests, leaks and media hype prove baseless, the damage has already been done. 

PSNI Chief Hugh Orde in a major January 2003 speech in New York City declared there were elements within his own force actively working against political progress.

Unionist politicians use this culture of state militarism to make unrealistic demands on Irish Republicans and receive placating concessions in return. 

The failure of the peace process suits Unionism and British securocrats needs. But who put these people in charge of the peace process? 

The Unionist Veto

Why is the British government behaving like this even though it probably doesn’t want to? What dementia in the political mind causes them to allow Unionism to control the process instead of themselves? Nationalists refer to this British mindset as the Unionist Veto. It implies that Unionism has the traditional, fundamental and inalienable right to pull down agreements it signs or block human/civil rights progress any time it wants to, or thinks it needs to, to stay in political power.

It is the antithesis of democracy.

Every time Unionism has political difficulty since the forced establishment of the 6-county statelet 80 years ago, the British government has bailed them out politically and/or militarily.

While the source of the Unionist Veto may be socio-historical, it endures to this day to everyone s detriment. It has never delivered peace or justice or prosperity for the people of the north of Ireland. It doesn’t work for British people or Irish people. It doesn’t even help Unionist people.

Because the British government's sole strategy seemed to be preserving weak Unionist politicians in power that it thinks it can deal with -- David Trimble has, for example, made an art of weakness -- and because they see a coalition of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the middle of the road, nationalist SDLP as indispensable to their short sighted, undemocratic vision, they have caused political stagnation. 

Both parties are now second class players having lost their number one positions in the most recent elections to the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein respectively.

Now the British Unionist Veto moves into the hands of  Ian Paisley's more radical Democratic Unionist Party [DUP] who is playing it to refuse to move forward to participate in government at all. 

It is not the British government’s job to determine whom Irish people should vote for or lead them. 

The Result

The result of the continuance of the Unionist Veto is Unionist and Loyalist leadership that has not learned how to lead but to bluster, has not learned consensus building and compromise, but trouble making and childishness; and instead of tolerance and the ability to change with changing times, they are prejudiced and intractable.